I was busy running errands and working on Friday and Saturday, on Sunday morning I decided to just pack my gear and ride up towards Lillooet.
Surrey, Squamish, Whistler, Pemberton... and around Joffrey Lakes the road was wet and all riders coming down South were wearing rain gear. Duffey Lake was the first stop, this time with clouds and a light haze from the wildfires.
A little bridge along the way... of course I stop for a picture
I arrived in Lillooet early afternoon but wasn't quite satisfied with the ride for the day. Duffey Lake road was wet and had to be ridden carefully, I was lucky though and didn't get rained on.
While fueling up in Lillooet I remembered that there was a road that I wanted to check out one day on the V-Strom. A mixed road with gravel and asphalt passages. Well, I was on the Valkyrie and decided to see how that will go...
After a couple of kilometres of a great asphalt road, it turned into this:
Then asphalt again with amazing hairpins, then gravel, then asphalt along the river.... it was just spectacular and the bike handled it very well.
Finally, we arrived at Carpenter Lake and the Terzaghi Dam.
At the dam we rode through a little tunnel.
And continued on this side of the lake towards Seton Portage.
The reflections on the water were just stunning!
We kept going up the hill, but at one point the road became a little bit too rough and we decided to turn around. The road on the right goes towards Seton Portage, the left one goes towards Gold Bridge and Bralorne, over the Hurley Pass and then down to Pemberton. Lillooet to Gold Bridge is 109km and there is a gas station as well. Very old and a bit tricky to get it working apparently, I will find out on my next ride. Riding to Carpenter Lake and a bit further on the road towards Gold Bridge was very doable on the Valkyrie. And now I am hooked to prospect more of this road!
Coming back to the dam again, I decided to have a little break and just enjoy the view. After a couple of minutes these guys showed up and of course told me I was crazy for coming out here on a bike like this. Well, I kinda disagreed
After an hour or so I started my ride back towards Lillooet. And had to stop many times, the views were just breathtaking.
Back in Lillooet I had no idea where to camp. Instead of asking Google for help, I decided to ask the ones who know best... the locals.
I was offered a drink, introduced to their dogs and then they escorted me to the campground. Also because they wanted to let their dogs swim in the creek by the campground...
The campground is just outside of Lillooet, no charges, it's free, and had lots of sites left to choose from.
After a nice long chat with the guys who showed me this site, we said goodbye and I got busy setting up the tent.
Unpacked and ready to go back to town to get some food and drinks.
Everything set for the night, time for food and drinks...
It was a short evening and I was lying in the tent early, just enjoying the sounds from all the different animals around me. It was wonderful and I had a great sleep!
If you ever ride through Lillooet you will see this sign. They change their messages regularly and are always pretty funny...
My initial plan was to ride more of yesterday's road towards Gold Bridge. But after talking to a group of adventure riders and a firefighter, I decided not to. Maybe my dad was right and I do get more sensible with age...
I left Lillooet and took Hwy12 towards Lytton. Still one of my favourite roads around here.
As you might know from other posts, Lytton burnt down completely a couple of weeks ago. Main Street through Lytton is closed and when you get to Hwy1 there is no stopping allowed for 4km. All that is left of downtown Lytton is chimneys and cars, everything else is gone. It's just devastating.
Coming into Lytton from Hwy12 I turned left and rode up the hill to check in on Kenny. Unfortunately he wasn't home, but it was good to see that his shop and house were still there. Most of his work is still there, but partially burned.
From Lytton I rode all the way to Hope and then home to Surrey on Hwy1. I was lucky and got there early enough before the big chaos started when everybody is coming home after a long weekend.
I will definitely be back for more of the road towards Gold Bridge. This was just so much fun to ride!
And you guys will definitely read about it when I get there again
Cheers
